Children of the Clergy

Season 1 | Episode 10 | Errapel

Papa Nihil strode through the endless corridors of the ministry, hastily making his way to the Emeritus Sons' Quarters. Anya, Seren, and a few other nurses and witches accompanied him.

In his hands, however, he held a small black cube with intricate gold patterns all over it. It looked to be a puzzle cube, but its true use was much different. It was a summoning cube. They were rare magical items used to summon one creature of hell only. Each summoning cube was connected to a single creature and there were no replicas of a single creature's cube. This cube was named Faust, to match the demon it summoned.

They finally arrived at the Sons' Quarters and Papa Nihil gently pushed the door open. The shared living room and kitchen were empty and the brothers were nowhere in sight. Papa had expected for Terzo to still be asleep, but Primo and Secondo's complete absence was a little unusual.

Papa continued and ventured over to Secondo's room, opening the door. To his surprise, Secondo wasn't there. A sudden feeling of dread crept over him, but he kept his cool and continued searching.

He peered into Terzo's room, but the young boy was still asleep and Secondo wasn't with him. He began to grow slowly more nervous as he came to the last room. He slowly pushed open the door and was instantly greeted by a sight he hadn't expected at all.

Secondo was lying under the covers of Promo's bed, apparently asleep, and Primo was sat on the edge of the bed next to him,

singing.

Papa Nihil instantly recognised the song as one that he often used to sing to Primo during his and Seestor Imperator's devorce. It was a sad song, but something about Primo's voice made it sweet and gave it a new meaning.

He sang softly, stroking a gentle hand over Secondo's arm, "Dorme ogni bimbo di questo mundo sogna di fare un bel girotondo." Papa sighed happily as Primo continued, "Insieme a tutti gli animaletti, il più bel sogno farà."

He suddenly noticed his unexpected audience and stopped singing. He turned to them and gave Papa Nihil a confused look as he chuckled and walked in, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Primo. The boy shifted uncomfortablely as the others walked in after him. He wasn't used to having anyone outside of his family in his room. It was new to him.

"Primo, we think we may have found something that could pry the Ether away from Secondo. But there is no guarantee that it will succeed in doing so." Papa Nihil explained.

Promo's eyes grew wide and he glanced down at Secondo and then back at his Papa, "Really?"

Papa held out Faust and Primo gasped, "You already know what this is?"

Primo smiled, "Secondo told me about them. He tells me about a lot of things." His smile faded as memories of his brother before the accident came flooding back to him. He couldn't bare the thought of something going wrong, causing him to loose his brother. And what would that do to Terzo too? He'd never be the same again. His father placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled down at him. Primo smiled sadly back.

Papa Nihil moved to stand at the end of the bed, placing Faust gently onto the floor. He rose back up and started to mutter a spell under his breath. Anya, Seren, and the other witches began to follow his lead, switching from different pitches and practically making a song out of the spell. Primo watched as Faust began to glow with bright white fire, a healer's colour. That confused him. Summoning cubes were often made for demons, but he didn't know of any healer demons. Were there ever such a thing?

The fire burned brighter and a sourceless breeze drifted into the room. Secondo groaned and turned his head to the side. He looked as if something was bothering him and he was trying to shake it away. The wind picked up and whipped his hair about. His discomfort was increasing.